NAM art project fills food pantry

Published 7:01 pm, Sunday, March 27, 2011

Northwest Assistance Ministries hosted its annual Art For The Hungry project and its participants were out of this world.

Volunteers from various organizations put together several architectural displays revolving around this year’s theme, “Out of This World.”

“Participation in this year’s project was great,” said NAM CEO and President Carole Little. “We had almost twice as many builders.”

Each team was presented with the task of collecting a minimum of 1,000 non-perishable food items and constructing a sculpture with the food items that would be donated to NAM’s food pantry as the kick-off for its Survival Over Summer program.

“The event brought in over 9,000 food items and over $1,100 for NAM’s Food Pantry,” Little said. “Art for the Hungry kicks off NAM’s annual Survival Over Summer food drive, which restocks the Food Pantry in time for summer. The summer months are difficult for many families because kids are out of school and electric bills are high.”

The sculptures were on display at Willowbrook Mall where shoppers were encouraged to vote on their favorites with a donation to NAM. The People’s Choice award was chosen by the total number of votes made for each sculpture and a Judges’ Choice award was presented to the most well-constructed and creative sculpture .

“The winner of the People’s Choice award was Rotary Blasts Polio out of this World by the Rotary of Willowbrook, Cy-Creek Interact and Houston NW Sunset,” Little said. “The winner of the Judges’ Choice award was “Follow the Yellow Brick Road” by the Klein United Methodist Church Girls Youth Group. Willowbrook Mall really went above and beyond in promoting the event and donating printing to make the signage in the mall look more professional.”

The Feinstein Foundation challenged NAM with a grant that offered a proportional match for all cash and food items received by NAM in March and April.

NAM is a nonprofit, community based, multi-program social service agency that helps area families in need. NAM encourages community members to collect food for the summer programs. The need for donations increases with children eating at home instead of receiving school lunches. Summer food drives are vital to the success of the summer program.

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For information on NAM programs and services, call 281-885-4555 or visit www.namonline.org.